Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Acquires 2,985 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,912 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,985 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $3,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CORDA Investment Management LLC. raised its stake in Walmart by 2.0% in the first quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 15,021 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,319,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Walmart by 0.4% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,651,446 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $222,293,000 after acquiring an additional 11,213 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 11.3% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 18,745 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Partners in Financial Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Partners in Financial Planning now owns 6,231 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 77.0% in the 1st quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,988 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.77, for a total value of $166,795.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 650,977 shares in the company, valued at $61,693,090.29. This trade represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.85, for a total value of $1,258,031.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 945,434 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,619,848.90. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 142,711 shares of company stock valued at $13,710,319 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $103.00 price target (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.67.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock traded down $0.14 on Wednesday, reaching $96.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,682,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,050,150. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $97.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.43. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.67 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $773.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.68.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. Walmart's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a yield of 0.95%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

Walmart Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.